Patients with hidradenitis suppurativa were found to have a significantly increased risk of periodontitis compared to both healthy controls and psoriasis patients in a retrospective cohort study.
Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is characterized by chronic inflammation of the skin, accompanied by systemic symptoms. HS is associated with comorbid conditions in other organ systems. Periodontitis is an infectious dental condition that has overlapping immune-mediated inflammatory properties with those of HS. However, the association between HS and periodontitis over the long term is not established.
In this multicenter retrospective cohort study, published in the International Journal of Medical Sciences, the authors investigated the relationship between HS and periodontitis. As an active comparator, the study included data for periodontitis risk in psoriasis patients, for whom a high level of risk has been previously established.
Participant Characteristics
After propensity score matching, there were 53,968 participants each in the HS cohort and control groups. The HS cohort mostly consisted of females (74.4%), with an average age of 33.8 years. The control group consisted of 74.5% female participants, with an average age of 33.9 years.
Hidradenitis Suppurativa and Risk for Periodontitis
The potential risk for the development of periodontitis in HS patients was observed after 1, 3, and 5 years of follow-up. A greater risk for developing periodontitis was observed in HS patients over the 5-year follow-up period compared to psoriasis patients.
Effect of Gender and Age on Risk Stratification
All subgroups of HS patients categorized by sex and age demonstrated an increased risk of developing periodontitis compared to the control group participants.
Study Limitations
Despite conducting a propensity score matched analysis of the HS and control cohorts, the racial/ethnic representation of the study cohort was not representative of the general population as it predominantly consisted of White and African groups. The observational study design limits the establishment of a causal association between HS and periodontitis.
In summary, in this study, HS patients had a significantly greater risk of developing periodontitis compared to healthy controls at 3 and 5 years of follow-up. The relationship remained significant when HS patients were compared to psoriasis patients.
Source:
Gau, S., Guo, Y., Lu, H., Lin, C., Lee, C., Tsai, R., Chang, H., Wu, M., & Li, C. (2024b). Hidradenitis suppurativa as a potential risk factor of periodontitis: a multi-center, propensity-score-matched cohort study. International Journal of Medical Sciences, 21(5), 874–881. https://doi.org/10.7150/ijms.93178
